A Second Chance
by a shadow of the heart
Summary: From the moment he was born, he had started to remember things that weren't part of his life. So it must be a good thing that his twin has been there from the start to protect him right?
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing…

* * *

A young man stood facing the only rival that he had. His brother, not by blood, but by what they had been through in their life so far.  
"Let's see how strong you are, now that you have gained the title of Hokage." The rival called out across the field with a smirk on his lips.  
"What are the stakes of this battle?" The Hokage responded with a smirk of his own.  
"If you win, I will return to the village." The rival stated.  
"If you win, then we will stop hounding you and aid you when needed." The Hokage stated after his rival had not said anything for sometime.  
Both nodded to the agreement. Jumping further away from each other, onto the heads of two statues.  
"You know that I'm going to win, don't you… Naruto."  
"Come on Sasuke, you know that today is the day that I finally defeat you!" Naruto smirked back at his rival, his hands starting to pull chakra into a sphere. Whereas Sasuke had been forming a sphere of lightning.  
"Rasengan."  
"Shidori."  
The two lept at each other, their jutsus cancelling out. Upon this Sasuke had started a furious taijutsu battle with the blonde, while the blonde was able to block or dodge many of the strikes, few would land, One particular strike to the ribs sent him flying with Sasuke there the moment he had stopped.  
"Come now Naruto, I know you're holding back, otherwise it wouldn't have been this easy." The black haired man stated.  
"But how do you know that this whole time I haven't been trying to make you use your chakra? Make you tired so that it would make for an easy defeat?"  
"Because you're not that kind of person Naruto. You're usually the one who rushes in."  
"Alright, but you asked for it." Naruto moved back across the water, flashing through hand signs, with Sasuke following suit. "Wind Style: Air Bullet!"  
Air from both clashed in the centre, causing the water beneath their feet to move violently. Both hands moving violently again. "Water Style: Great Water Mass!"  
"Fire Style: Flying Flame Bullet!"  
Steam rose around the area, cutting of the use of sight for the Hokage. Sasuke still being able to see though, decided to try a surprise attack.  
"You should know that I do not need my sight Sasuke." The voice came from behind him, and the person in front, poofing out of existence.  
Realizing very quickly what would happen Sasuke moved away from Naruto. "Why don't we continue where we left off last time."  
"As you wish, Sasuke."  
Both males jumped into the air, off the two statue heads of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.  
"Rasengan!"  
"Shidori!"

Both males were going all out this time, putting the majority of their chakra into the single attack. Both had smiled at each other in the moment that they had clashed.

A large ball of chakra had formed around them. Black on the outside, but a blinding white on the inside. Much like the one they had caused as kids, but much bigger. Slowly the ball became a full blinding white as it expanded.  
The explosion caused by the chakra had reshaped the waterfall behind them. Behind the curtain water there was now a large cavern, the statues had disappeared this time, allowing the water to flow freely down the cliff.  
Sasuke stood while panting heavily from the throwback of the jutsu, keeping an eye out for the blonde Hokage. He spotted movement from behind the water, which he could not have seen without his sharingan. "So you made it out alive?"  
It had shocked him though, seeing the blonde move only by the chakra that was holding him up. Sasuke had known that he had barely been touched by the explosion, meaning Naruto had taken the brunt of it.  
"It seems like you've won…" The blonde tipped forwards, following the water down, and grunting when something had stopped his descent rather abruptly.  
"Come now Naruto, this isn't the end and you know it." Sasuke declared, even though it seemed like he wasn't going to make it. He had already started making his way back towards the place that he had rejected. The place that he had not considered home, as he was carrying 'home' on his back.

"We're nearly there Naruto." The condition of the blonde hadn't changed since they had been travelling. "Look the gates are up ahead."

As soon as they had passed through the gate and were heading to the hospital, Naruto had twitched. "I knew I could get you back."  
The blonde could feel the final parts of his body healing. 'Thanks Kurama.'

"You were fine the whole time?"  
"No I was healing, and by the way, can we steer away from the hospital? Sakura and Hinata are in there and I don't want to be scolded at the moment. How about we head to training ground seven, for old times sake?"  
Sasuke had shrugged, knowing that he was finally home.

Upon reaching the grounds, Naruto sat down against a tree, a small smile on his face. "Sasuke, you will be the next Hokage."  
"You know that I'm not going to be the one who can do your job."  
"But you can Sasuke. I know since I've seen you fight."  
Sasuke stared at the blonde who seemed more tired than he should actually be. "What's going on Naruto?"  
He watched the blonde as he was trying to find the right words. "My heart is starting to give out."  
"Can Kurama not heal it?" The black haired male slumped against the same tree with his head down, thinking about how he was going to lose his 'home' again.  
"It is because of overuse of Kurama's chakra that my heart is giving out. I have been warned against doing many things, but I knew that you had to come back."  
"You idiot."  
Naruto placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, just letting him work through the information. "How much longer?"  
The question slightly surprised Naruto after the ten minutes of heavy silence. "I'm not sure now. That fight would have speed it up a bit more." Naruto muttered, removing his hand from his shoulder. "I want to make it to see my first child Sasuke."  
"Is Hinata…?" Sasuke looked over to his best friend.  
Naruto nodded with a small smile. "Yeah, two months left."  
"And last you knew, how long were you supposed to have?"  
Naruto sighed, looking at his friend. "They said three months, if I was lucky."  
Sasuke hit the ground in frustration. "And did you use Kurama's chakra at any point during our fight?"  
"While healing, but that was unintentional." Naruto turned towards Sasuke with a dimmer version of his old smile. "It was worth it though Sasuke. It really was."

The two sat in silence for a long time after that, until two ANBU had appeared in front of the two. "Lord Hokage, Lady Hinata is looking for you. She is waiting at the hospital."  
"Thank-you Hawk. You are dismissed." The two ANBU had disappeared in a shunshin. "Alright Sasuke, let's go."

Sasuke watched Naruto, pulling him to a halt for a minute, as it would now be easier to carry him there. At least then when they got there, he wasn't going to get in trouble with Naruto's wife and their friend. "Hold on, this won't take long."  
"Trying to stay out of trouble, eh Sasuke?" Naruto teased as he allowed Sasuke to pull his arm around his shoulder and carry him to the hospital. "Or are you trying to keep me out of trouble?"  
"A bit of both. I do not believe that I could stand against two angry women. Let alone one." Sasuke joked, as both he and Naruto knew that it could easily happen.

They moved quickly towards the hospital and were there within two minutes. "Lord Hokage, this way please." A nurse lead the two men down to the delivery room, before turning to Sasuke. "If you could please wait here. There is only to be two support people in the room."  
Sasuke nodded, and sat down on one of the benches lining the wall. "I'll be here right when you come out."  
Naruto nodded, knowing that the man before him was going to keep his word this time. "We didn't actually decide who won though did we?"  
"I'm back here aren't I?" Sasuke smirked. "Now go to your wife. She is going to need need you."

At points during the next couple of hours, Sasuke watched as Naruto would occasionally come out of the room - that was usually when he heard Hinata calling for him to go out, he didn't think that the usually timid girl could do anything of the sort - but moments later he would be back in. After three hours, Naruto finally came out with a big grin on his face, "Do you wanna come see little Boruto?"  
Sasuke smiled at the man before him. "Is that alright with Hinata?"  
Naruto nodded, and lead his friend in. Lying on Hinata was a baby that looked like Naruto. "They need the skin to skin contact for a little while."  
"He's like a mini you."  
Sasuke heard the gasp from the pink haired nurse, and had seen Hinata look at him, then her husband. "Sasuke?"  
"Don't be mad, you said it was alright to bring in my friend." Naruto had his hands in a defensive position,  
"It's not that I'm angry, just surprised." Hinata said soothingly. "Welcome back Sasuke. Although, how did Naruto managed to get you back here?"  
Sasuke looked at Naruto who looked back at him. "We uhh…"  
"I went for a walk when I felt Sasuke's chakra, and I managed to convince him to come back."  
"How much convincing did you have to do?"  
"Umm, maybe a few weeks worth…?"  
Sakura quickly moved towards Naruto, leading him over to the chair and ordering him to remove his shirt. She began checking him over, her hands covered in green chakra. The last thing that Sakura moved her hand over was his heart. Her eyes closed tightly when she pulled her hand away.  
"How much chakra did you use?"  
Naruto shrugged, knowing that whatever Sakura had to say, it was going to be bad. "A bit…?"  
"Urgh!" They watched the pink haired medic as she slowly stood above the Hokage. "You told to only use chakra if it was absolutely necessary, and that was only to get away from any sort of situation."  
Sasuke stared at the blonde. "Idiot, why didn't you tell me earlier that it was if you used any chakra."  
"Because you needed a reason to come back." Naruto simply stated, pulling his top on again. "Do we want to know how much time is left? And no sugar coating."

Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose, working around figures in her head. "If you stop using chakra… three weeks tops."  
"And… if I was using chakra?" Naruto hesitantly asked.  
"Depending on how much chakra, I would give you to the end of this week." Sakura turned her glare on him. "So no chakra, or I'm placing a seal that is going to block it from you. Are we clear?"  
Naruto nodded vigorously, while standing to move over to Hinata. "And we'll spend every last moment wisely."  
Hinata nodded, looking at Sasuke. "You should stay with us for the next couple of weeks."  
Her husband had grinned at her, extremely happy that she had offered for him to stay. "Thank you."

Naruto had gone back to his home with Sasuke taking him there. Once there, he had followed down to one of the guest rooms that was going to be his.  
"Sasuke," Naruto waited for him to respond. "Please look after my family, show my son the right way when I can't."  
Sasuke flicked his forehead, much like Itachi had done to him earlier. "You know that this didn't have to happen."  
The blonde shrugged, but grinned at his friend anyway. "Are you going to tell me that you would have come willingly back to the village?"  
"Yes."  
Naruto chuckled, knowing that it wouldn't have been true, since Sasuke would have found another reason. "At least you're back."

The man had smiled, just the slightest tilt of his lips, but it was there. "Yeah."

* * *

Four years had passed and Naruto was sitting beside Hinata in the delivery room once more. Sasuke was watching Boruto just outside the room that Hinata was going to be moved to afterwards. When they saw the two coming, Sasuke held Boruto back so that they would make it into the room before their son had a chance to bombard them.  
"Thank you Sasuke." Naruto smiled at the black haired man, before picking his son up. "And were you good for Uncle Sasuke?"  
Boruto nodded, before going straight into questioning. "Do I have a baby brother or sister?"  
"A baby sister." Naruto smiled at his son, who continued to fire off questions. "Her name is Himawari, she has blue eyes, the littlest nose, and dark blue hair like your mothers."  
Boruto kept bouncing in his father's arms, giddy over having a sibling that he would be able to play with.  
"We're going to have to be quiet when we go in though, Himawari is sleeping at the moment. And we don't want to wake her do we?"  
Naruto chuckled at his son who had scrunched up his face and had gone wild shaking his head side to side. He had walked the two in, Sasuke having already been inside, holding the little girl.  
Boruto stared at how tiny his sister was, thinking that if he touched her that he was going to break her. Naruto went and sat over in the seat, smiling when Sasuke came over to bring his daughter to him.  
Naruto smiled as Boruto stayed in his lap, making eye contact with the black haired male to keep him nearby. He knew very well that if his son was to stay on his lap and get off while he was holding his daughter, then they may have had a bit of an issue.  
Before the little girl could be passed to him, Naruto showed Boruto how to hold his arms where Himawari would be placed. He also had reassured his son that he would be supporting his arms with his own as well, so there wasn't going to be too much to worry about.  
"She's so cute." Boruto whispered as the little girl was in his arms. "Hi Hima, I'm your big brother Boruto. And I'm gonna take good care of you."  
Naruto smiled at his son, moving back slightly into the seat so that there would be little movement from either of his children. After a while he had noticed that his son had fallen asleep and glance to Sasuke to take his little girl back to Hinata.  
"Thanks Sasuke." Naruto looked over to Hinata. "I'm going to take him home for a bit to sleep, and we'll be back before you know it."  
"Hanabi is going to be here shortly, so I will allow you to go." Hinata had looked tired and like she needed some sleep, so it was good that her sister was coming to see her.  
Sasuke had his hybrid smirk-smile on his face as he excused himself to go see his wife. "I'll be back shortly with Sakura, so she can properly say hi to the little girl."  
Hinata had nodded, while Naruto was waiting for Hanabi to come. "Is there anything that you want me to bring back later?"  
"Mmm, some more clothes would be nice, as they say I may be in here for a little longer than I was with Boruto, and maybe some food for Boruto while he is here?"  
Naruto kissed Hinata on the forehead. "I love you."  
Hinata blushed, but murmured it back as her younger sister walked through the door. "See you when you get back."

Naruto had managed to get Boruto home without him waking up, and placing him on his bed as he went about getting clothes and finding snacks in the cupboard. As he reached up to grab something, his sense of balance was disturbed, causing the blonde to fall over. The sound had brought his son out of his room and to the noise.  
"Dad!" Boruto moved to the man who was lying on the floor, breathing heavily. "What do I do?"  
"Call… Sasuke…" Naruto rasped out, trying to catch his breath so that his son wasn't going to worry so much.

The blonde could hear his son talking hurriedly, and then suddenly there were two sets of footsteps. He could hear Sakura's voice next to him, but that wasn't who he was worried about. It was his son who he could see standing in the door frame with Sasuke. He could hear his brother talk to his son in a calming way. Telling him that he had done the right thing to call him, so that they could help Naruto better.  
"Hi-Hinata." Naruto whispered, wanting to see his wife again. "T-take… to her."  
"I will just as soon as you are stable." Sakura murmured in that strong voice. "Sasuke will be taking Boruto to Hinata now. We'll get you to the hospital as well, okay? You will be just fine."  
He knew he wasn't fine though, he knew that extremely well. "Look after…"  
"Stop trying to talk for now." The medic ordered. "We will be looking after you and your family, so you just wait for now, okay?"  
Naruto nodded, relaxing onto the floor.

Sasuke had tried to calm Boruto down, as it wasn't going to do any good to send him to Hinata in the scared state that he was in. It would only serve to worry her as much as him. "Your father is going to be fine, Boruto. I have seen my brother come out of much worse than this."  
Boruto nodded but clung to Sasuke as they walked into Hinata's room. At that point Boruto was put down so that he could go to his mother.  
One glance at his tear stained cheeks had her looking at Sasuke for an answer, while grabbing hold of her son. "What happened?"  
"Naruto collapsed in the kitchen." Sasuke started, knowing Hinata would wait until he had finished. "Sakura is bringing him here after he is stable enough to move. I'm going to go back and help her move him here."  
He noticed her eyes starting to go glassy. "I'm sure it isn't quite time yet. He will surely get more time than this to be with Himawari."  
Hinata nodded, figuring that it had to be right. Naruto was supposed to die years ago and he still continued to defy the odds that had been set against him.

Sakura glanced up as she felt a slight breeze before Sasuke came in. "Naruto is stable enough to move now, but we must be quick."  
Sasuke nodded before moving towards the blonde on the floor. "Alright Naruto, we're justing taking you to the hospital now."  
Once an arm was supporting Naruto's back, with the his arm around Sasuke's shoulder, they disappeared in a shunshin, ending up just in front of the reception desk. Sakura was a moment behind them, ordering them to bring a bed out.  
Once again she had started working on Naruto and continued to do so for the next few hours.

Sasuke was pacing outside of the theatre, waiting for news from the pink haired medic. When she did come out, she looked very grim.  
"This time, he really doesn't have much longer. I want you to get Hinata, in a wheelchair, to room 205." The medic moved back into the operating room, while the black haired male moved on instinct, while sorting through his thoughts.

Hinata sat next to Naruto's bed with tears in her eyes. Himawari was placed just inside his arm on the bed, and Boruto sat towards the feet of his father.  
"Protect her…" Naruto mumbled, his words coming and going from the drugs that he had been put on. "Hina… love you… Boruto… care of… -ter… Hima… sorry…"  
When he opened his eyes, they roved through the room for a moment, before landing on his brother. "Remember… take care… take position…"  
Sakura had walked back into the room to make sure that he was comfortable.  
"Please look… him…"  
"Don't worry Naruto. We'll look after them." Sakura said, looking to Hinata who had nodded, before moving to unhook the machines that he was connected to. The medic stayed near the heart monitor, so that she would be able to turn it off as soon as she heard his heart flatline.

It was hard for all of them to watch, their beloved friend slowly dying. The only thing worse was when his heart had stopped. Hinata finally started properly cry for her husband.  
Sakura had moved quickly in turning the machine off. Tears in her eyes as well. "He will be remembered well."  
"I know. The hero from the fourth great ninja war shall be passed on for generations." Hinata spoke, her voice quivering in places while she talked past her tears. "We must remain happy for him."

* * *

The blonde stood near his family, watching each of them. He wrapped Hinata in a hug, just as she had whispered that they remain happy for him.  
"No, you are allowed to grieve, but sad." Naruto murmured into her ear, before moving to his son. Trying to comfort him as he he seemed to understand that he wouldn't get to see his father again. Once he seemed to relax he moved to his beautiful little daughter. There wasn't much that he was able to do except tell her how much he loved her, no matter how little time that they got to spend together. When she opened her eyes though, she saw him, and he knew she did. "I'm sorry Hima, I didn't get to spend more time with you."

He moved to Sasuke, glad that he wasn't only relying on Naruto anymore. "You are going to do well. I know you will."  
He had moved to Sakura, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for still caring about him. For saving my brother."

One more look around the room gave Naruto a slight fright, as he had seen an elderly man just beside the window. "Is it time now?"  
The man had nodded, pulling a sword from his side. "Do you wish to be reincarnated, or to help souls when they are ready to move on?"  
Naruto considered this for a moment, knowing full well that it would probably change his personality if chose it, but that he may be able to do more good that way, he whispered "Reincarnated."  
The man nodded at this slicing the air with his blade, immediately after he saw a thin line grow into a door. "I wish you the best of luck young man."

* * *

Thousands of years later, a woman had just given birth to fraternal twin boys. The oldest of the two had bright orange hair, and eyes that were already turning brown. The younger of the two had bright blonde hair, almost as if to deny his parentage, while his eyes had remained a cerulean blue.  
"Aren't they just so cute." Masaki whispered, smiling brightly at her husband.  
After already having been told off by his wife, Isshin smiled just as brightly and nodded. "I agree. And one should be Ichigo!"  
Masaki glared at her husband. "I thought I told you to keep it down." She then looked at her eldest son. "Yes, Ichigo suits you doesn't it little one?"  
While studying her youngest son, she remembered a story that was told to her many times throughout her childhood - it was considered more of a myth now though - about a young man who had saved the world, and lost many loved ones in the process. "And you shall be my little Naruto."

* * *

Let me know what you think…


	2. Chapter 2

A young Naruto, currently slept snuggled in tight with his big brother, hoping that he would be able to stop the bad dreams from coming. Or at least have the comfort of someone he loved, when they did come.  
"Ichi?" Naruto whispered, knowing that if he talked louder, they would both get into trouble. "Please don't leave me."  
"Never." Ichigo mumbled back, holding on tighter to his young brother, trying to show that he was going to be supportive no matter how old they would get.

The two had been sharing the same bed now for a year, as the blonde wouldn't sleep alone. He would sometimes tell his big brother what happened in his dreams, not the ones that were really bad though, he never seemed to be able to talk about those. And after those dreams he would stay cuddled into the blankets for a day if they couldn't coax him out.  
And it was currently happening this morning, Naruto wasn't going to leave his blanket cocoon for his first day of kindergarten with Ichigo.  
"Are you happy we get to go?" Ichigo asked the blonde. Yesterday when he had asked Naruto had been really excited, so he wondered if he had another 'dream'.  
"Big people." Naruto whispered to his brother. "The big people hurt me!"  
Ichigo wrapped his arms around his brother and the blankets. "I make sure the big people won't hurt you. And Mommy will be there too!"  
Masaki had been sitting next to the blanket lump, and agreed that she would stop anyone who would try to hurt him. "Don't worry Naru, everything will be okay."  
"Yeah, we'll protet you." Ichigo slowly started to remove the blanket from Naruto, who had allowed them this time to be removed.  
"You won't leave?" Naruto asked as he latched onto the arm of his elder brother. "You promise?"  
Both mother and brother agreed that he wasn't going to be left alone while he was there. "It's gonna be fun!"

As soon as they reached the kindergarten, the blonde had latched onto his brother and hadn't let go. Masaki had also stayed close, smiling when they were asked to introduce themselves. Naruto had stayed quiet - which she had expected of her youngest son - and let Ichigo do that talking.  
"I'm Ichigo, and this is Naruto. He's my younger brother." The orange haired boy announced. "And we are thee."  
"Are you twins?" The teacher asked and both boys nodded. The teacher smiled and asked what they liked to do, but only Ichigo was the one answering. "And what about you Naruto?"  
The boy shifted closer into his brother's side, making it so that he wouldn't have to answer the scary lady. "Naruto likes stories. The best one is what Mommy tells us."  
The teacher had looked at Masaki, wondering what she was doing about her shy son at home. It seemed that the blonde never got to talk around his brother to her. "Why don't you tell us Naruto, is there anything else that you like?"  
Naruto stared at the woman, who had the face of the person who would condone violence at the home mixing in with hers. In response, tears had started to form in Naruto's eyes, and he pushed himself even closer into his brother.  
Ichigo who had noticed little wet spots on his shirt, and wrapped both arms tightly around Naruto. Masaki noticing the shift in her son's mood instantly moved from her seat to him. Telling him that the teacher was only trying to get him to speak, instead of Ichigo who was doing all the talking.  
"Is it her again?" Ichigo asked, confusing Masaki, who looked between both her sons.  
"Who is Ichi talking about Naru?" Masaki spoke in a quiet calming tone, hoping that her youngest son would open up to her, like he did with his brother.  
"T-thee was a l-lady… a-and she l-l-let the o-other kids do m-mean things to m-me." Her son sobbed into her shirt.  
Masaki was shock at this, wondering who her son was talking about, as she had never let her boys out of her sight when going out since Naruto was so shy, and this was his first time at kindergarten. "That isn't going to happen here, okay?"  
Masaki rubbed her hand up and down Naruto's back in a calming manner. She had started to take Naruto to the chair she had been sitting in, while nodding to Ichigo that his brother was going to be alright. Her eldest didn't leave though. "Naru is going to be able to join you in a second, okay Ichi?"  
Ichigo nodded and reluctantly left Naruto with their mother. But every time he would talk with the other children in the class she could see him stealing glances the blonde, and knew that he wanted to be with his younger brother more than anything at the moment.

After fifteen minutes, Naruto looked up at his mother before looking over to Ichi, and starting to move off her lap. "Tanks Mommy, but Ichi needs me."  
Masaki nodded and watched as her youngest moved towards her eldest, and as he introduced them properly to the blonde. They got on quite well with the blonde, but they seemed to notice how he was glued to Ichigo's side. They seemed to accept it better than the teacher had. Masaki smiled at her two boys and knew that they would both be fine now, and that she would be able to leave Naruto in their care when they came in again tomorrow.

Naruto had slowly started to move out from behind Ichigo when he saw someone running towards him. He quickly pulled himself back behind his brother, but the person just kept coming. When he looked up again, he couldn't see his brother, even though he could still feel his shirt in his grasp. That didn't help though when the older boy had started to beat him.  
"No! Stop please stop!" Naruto called out into his brother's shirt.  
Ichigo recognized this from when Naruto usually had his nightmares. "It's okay Naru." Ichigo had pulled Naruto to the floor with him, holding onto his brother tightly. "I'm here. I'm here."  
The young mother had lept out of her seat, but stilled when she saw what Ichigo was doing. It seemed he was very used to this kind of thing. _How often does this happen when I'm not around?_ Masaki wondered, still watching as Naruto seemed to latch onto his voice, and slowly came out of whatever it was that he had been drawn into. She could see the two whispering to each other, most likely what had happened just then.  
The brunette twisted when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She saw the grim look on the teacher's face and knew what this would be about.  
"I'm sorry, but it would be best if you were not to bring young Naruto back here."  
Masaki glared at the teacher, who was supposed to be helping the children, not giving up on them as soon as things went south. "Rest assured, we will be finding a new place for the boys to attend tomorrow."  
Masaki looked warmly at her two boys before moving towards them, ridding herself of the negative feelings that had come forth from the chat with the teacher. "Alright Naru, Ichi, it's time to say goodbye now."  
Ichigo looked to his mother who was picking Naruto up, wondering why they were leaving so suddenly. But still he said his goodbyes, and they left the kindergarten

Once they had returned home Masaki had sent both boys up to their room to play. Once she was sure that they were up there, she went to Isshin to talk about her theory.

Isshin was sitting in his office trying to fill out some of the paper work that he promised his wife he would do while she took their sons' to kindergarten. He was surprised though when he saw her walk in at eleven am, as she was supposed to stay at the kindergarten with their boys until three.  
"What happened?"  
Masaki moved next to her husband. "The teacher there thought that Naruto was only trying to gain attention, even though she didn't say it, I know she was thinking it. And she asked us not to bring Naruto back."  
"Then our boys weren't meant to go there." Isshin said, pulling his wife into a hug. "We'll find a place for them to go, don't worry about that my love."  
The brunette looked at her husband for a moment, a frown starting to form at the edge of her lips. "Is it possible for a soul that has been reincarnated to maintain the memories they have of a past life?"  
Isshin seriously pondered this for a few minutes, remembering what his father had told him once before about a soul that was strong enough to keep the memories of their past life. "It is possible if the soul is strong enough to maintain them in rebirth cycle. It also depends if that is what the soul chose rather than going to seireitei, they are more likely to be a stronger soul and therefore able to maintain their memory.  
"My father was the only one who could offer that to a soul though, and only one ever accepted out of the twenty to be reincarnated after they had died." Isshin looked wide eyed at his wife. "Are you going to be alright to watch Naruto and Ichigo? I need to go speak to Urahara."  
Masaki nodded vaguely as her husband had shot out the door sending paper flying around her.

After ten minutes of straight running he reached the shop of Kisuke Urahara. Isshin had fallen flat on his face from the effort, and from the fact that he had left his bike at home. Masaki wouldn't let him drive her car as he had no experience from living in soul society for a long time.  
The shop owner stepped into his door and looked down at the man before him. "Tessai?" He called over his shoulder. "Clean up on the outside of the store."  
The big hulking man had moved to get the man off the ground. "You know that it isn't nice to imply that people are a mess."  
Kisuke shrugged, before turning back into his shop with Tessai following behind.

Quickly they had moved into his back room, with Tessai making Isshin more comfortable as Kisuke made some tea. "So what have you come to see me about, dear Isshin?" The blonde man asked as he sat at the table while placing a steaming cup in front of the man.  
"Reincarnated souls…" Isshin said after drinking the entire cup. "What do you know about them?"  
Kisuke opened a fan that seemed to have appeared from nowhere. "Not as much as you seem to think I know."  
"Anything will help."  
Kisuke sighed at this. "In the history of the Soul Society only one soul ever agreed to be reincarnated straight after death. That soul was one of the twenty - all from the shinobi era - that was ever offered it. Since this soul was the only one to ever be reincarnated straight after death, there are many things that we speculate about, but only since we cannot compare them to any other soul.  
"The head captain was the only one who was able to offer this to souls as they would be the ones that he would think would be the most deserving, of either a new life, or one that would be able to change the world. Hence there have only been twenty souls to be offered this." Kisuke took this time to drink some more tea while Isshin looked lost in thought.  
"Continue please."  
"We are also not able to tell when a soul is going to come out of the cycle, so it the soul could have come out of the cycle already, be on it's way out or if there are still many years for that soul to come out of the cycle." Kisuke finished, drinking the last of the tea in his cup. "Was there something else dear Isshin?"  
"What about the soul retaining memories of their past life?"  
Kisuke put his hand to his chin. "Hmm… If the soul is strong enough then it should be able to retain memories of their past life during this one, again this is speculation. But if we were to go on speculation, then it could be true as well… If a strong soul were to go to the soul society then they are more likely to remember their life when they were alive, than if they were a weaker soul who would struggle to retain their memories.  
"So if you go on that then it would be true for the stronger soul to retain their memories through the cycle than a weaker soul." Kisuke finished this and looked at Isshin again. "But you told Masaki that it would also depend on how long after death that they entered the cycle affects them as well didn't you?"  
Isshin nodded to this and looked at his friend for any sort of answer.  
"Again it is speculation," Kisuke waited for the man to nod before continuing. "It could also apply, since souls that have entered the seireitei have usually lost their memories by the time they enter the cycle themselves, for the time it takes them to stay in the seireitei before they can move on and into the cycle. So this could mean that since the soul that was reincarnated would also have a better chance of remembering as they would have entered the cycle with their memories intact, and as it would have been within the window after their death they would have a higher chance of remembering.  
"Did you find the soul Isshin?" Kisuke asked as he stared at the man.  
The man sighed as he also looked at back at the blonde haired man. "I believe that this soul that was reincarnated, is my son."

Kisuke stared at the man before him in shock. "That was unexpected."  
Both men turned to the hulking man before them. "That is what you wish to say?"  
"No. Would it be alright if we were to return with you to see your son?" Tessai stared at Isshin, and to get the stare off him he quickly agreed. "Then let us be off Mr. Kurosaki."

Upon the arrival of the three men at the Kurosaki residence, Masaki was holding her husband by the ear and telling him off for not consulting her first so that she would be able to tell Naruto and Ichigo about the strangers coming over. Afterwards she had released her husband's ear and turned to the two men he had invited over.  
"Please take a seat while I go talk to the boys." Masaki then proceeded to move up stairs and nearly half an hour later she reappeared with two boys in tow. "Ichigo, Naruto, why don't you two say hello to Mr. Urahara."  
Naruto started at the man before him, moving over to him, surprising his family in the process. "You look familia. Do I know you from somewhere?"  
Apart from his family, both strangers had looked shocked, which made the boy move back slightly, wondering if he had done something wrong. "Ichi?"  
The other boy quickly moved to his brother's side, and they began whispering to each other. Ichigo looked at the two men before pulling Naruto closer to them again. "Hello. I'm Ichigo and this is Naruto."  
"And I'm Kisuke and next to me is Tessai." Kisuke leaned forwards a little, showing his light blonde hair to the young boys.

Seeing the blonde hair on the man, had sent Naruto's mind into overdrive as he began remembering the Yamanaka clan. First the academy, then some missions that they had been sent on, and finally the war. At this point he was hiding behind Ichigo and shivering and what was going on. His friends that he couldn't save then, and the ones he had left behind afterwards "No. No no nonononononono!"  
He collapsed into Ichigo's back, causing both boys to fall forwards almost as they were about to hit the ground, Kisuke had caught them both, while hearing the blond boy mumbling apologies to many people who he knew now resided in the soul society. He made sure that they were comfortable before looking to Isshin and Masaki, and slowly nodding his head. This was the only chosen reincarnated soul that had finally found his way back to earth.

* * *

When the young blonde woke he found himself alone, but that was alright with him for the moment. "Where am I?"  
He moved to stand, but as soon as he was sitting he had fallen back down. He saw flashes of orange hair and a small smiling face. One he saw in the mirror next to his. "Ichigo?"  
"I'm sorry, but I've told Masaki and Isshin to take him home for a bit. They should be back shortly though." A light blonde haired man stood in the doorway.  
"Kisuke?" Naruto questioned, memories from both the past and the present getting confused for the moment. As he was trying to sort through his memories, tears had started running down his face. "They're dead."  
"Who do you mean Naruto?"  
"Them…" Naruto sobbed as he looked back to the blonde haired man before him. "But you really look like you are from the same line."  
Kisuke listened to how the boy's speech had changed. He didn't exactly sound like a child anymore, and the look in his eyes held pain that he knew no child should have there. "What do you remember Naruto?"  
"Faces. A war. And lots and lots of pain." Naruto murmured, pulling his legs into his chest. "Two children."  
"Would you like it if you were able to see these people again one day?"  
The blondes' stared at each other, one in curiosity and the other in wonder.  
"Ichi needs me though." The younger of the two muttered, even though he knew that it would be good to see them again, he needed to stay with his brother. "And I need Ichi too."  
Kisuke nodded as Ichigo came running through the door to his brother who was still lying on the floor, tears running down his face as well. "Naru are you ok?"  
"Yep, I'm ok now." Naruto moved his arms around his brother, snuggling into him as he always did at night. "Thanks Ichi."  
"Welcome Naru." Ichi said as he too wrapped his arms around his brother and pulling him closer to him. Both had fallen asleep within minutes, causing a smile to form on the adults faces.

"So cute!" Masaki had whispered before shooing the other males away from the room. Where Kisuke had lead them back down to his meeting room.  
"Soul society don't have to know about this do they?"  
Isshin looked at his wife. "Knowing them, they found out when we did, or they will in the coming years."  
"And there is no way to keep them from coming after Naruto if they find out?"  
Kisuke raised his hand a little to gain their attention. "We could always come up with a way to make it seem like he is only afraid of spirits."  
They looked blankly at him.  
The blonde man sighed. "Both of your sons have high spirit energy, and I don't doubt that they can see spirits that are still lingering. And because they can both see them, they really only need to talk to each other about it. It is also possible that they may have talked to other children who cannot see them and assume that you cannot see them either."  
"That would make sense." Isshin looked at Masaki. "Even though I left soul society, it would still be able to carry over to them, and with you having high spiritual pressure and being a quincy, then it makes sense that they would be able to."  
She nodded, "that could work very well. But for how long?"  
"We can make it last as long as we can." Kisuke stated. "But later on we may have to go down a different path. We'll figure that out when we get closer to that time though."  
"Thank you Kisuke."

* * *

Naruto sat down in a grassy clearing with a river running along to the side and trees stretching into the distance. The place seemed familiar but he couldn't place from where. He laid back into the grass and sighed. "So soft."  
"It's been a long time Naruto."  
The boy sat back up quickly, looking around him in shock at the voice. "Kurama!" The boy jumped up and wrapped his arms around the little fox that was still with him. "How?"  
"I have somehow managed to become part of your soul. Something that must have been in the seal to bond me to you." The fox laughed as he continued to watch the young boy try to make sense of this, before moving on.  
"Where are we?"  
"In your inner world I think, kind of like your mindscape." Kurama stated, wondering if that was the best way to explain it to the young boy. "I believe that this is a representation of your team's old training ground from back when you were part of the shinobi world."  
"Before Ichi?" Naruto asked while tilting his head, his eyes wide with wonder. The fox nodded in response to this, while pulling the child into his side, thinking about how cute this child version of Naruto was. "Why are we here?"  
"I wish I knew the answer to that question, but I can't say that I do." Kurama looked at the child before him, so different and so similar to the person that he had known before. "Now why don't you go back to Ichi now, as he seems to be waking."  
"Okay Kura, I'll come back soon." Naruto smiled at his friend before waking up with Ichigo.

"Hey Ichi." Naruto said slowly whilst stretching, moving away slightly from Ichigo in the process.  
"Did you finally sleep well?" The orange haired boy asked while still waking up himself.  
"Yep. There was a nice fox in my dream. His name is Kura." The blonde started to get sit up, and was managing it this time. "I think you would like him."  
Ichigo looked at his brother. "Can I meet him?"  
"I dunno. Maybe. I'll ask him next time." Naruto stood this time while only swaying slightly. Ichigo stood up quickly to balance his brother. "'M'kay Ichi."  
The orange haired boy nodded but continued to hold his brothers hand as they walked down to where their parents were located.

* * *

The adults turned their conversation to something more normal when they heard the patter of little feet on the floor heading towards them, so that the little ears wouldn't be hearing about the plan.  
The two little boys instead walked in on the adults talking about sports and items that were currently in the shop.  
"Mommy, can we play?" The orange haired boy asked.  
"Just outside the front of the shop okay? And please be careful of the items out there." Both boys nodded and rushed away from the room towards the front of the shop. "There is no one out there, right Kisuke?"  
"There is a barrier ten meters around the shop that we replace every week. They will be fine so long as they stay within it." The blonde man assured their mother, or at least hoping that it would. They were only told to play outside the front of the store, he was sure that there wasn't much that could go wrong.

* * *

Let me know what you think...


	3. Chapter 3

Both boys had turned when they had heard a scream coming from down the street. It had sounded like a little girl was being chased. With his new found confidence, the blonde haired boy ran in the direction that the scream came from, whereas the orange haired followed in shock as he had never seen this side of the blonde before. "Naru what are you doing?"  
"Helping! Like you do for me!" Naruto called back over his shoulder.  
"Okay! But wait for me!" Ichigo followed since he was never going to leave his younger brother in danger. Just as Naruto wouldn't leave him in danger.

After they had ran around two corners and down a couple of streets the boys had come across a little girl being chased by a monster. "This way!" The blonde had called as he moved back towards his brother, who had stopped on the corner to look at what was chasing the girl. He froze standing there looking at the monster alongside his brother.  
"Run!" Ichigo yelled as the monster started to get closer and he regained his sense of preservation. He grabbed his brother's hand and tried to grab onto the girl as well but his hand went straight through her. "Come on!"  
The two boys had run back the same way had come with the girl following her this time.  
"Where are we going to hide?" The girl asked as she ran beside them.  
"I don't know!" Ichigo huffed out as he continued to run, At the last corner before they reached the shop, the boys saw their mother and ran straight for her. Kisuke and Tessai were standing just behind her looking at the creature that was chasing after them.  
"Tessai?" Kisuke tilted his head to the man, as said man moved to restrain the hollow. "Misaki, take the children away from here. Go back into the barrier, it is safer there for them."  
The mother had already already been taking the children back to the shop as he was saying this. "Thank you Kisuke."

The blonde man nodded as he watched the three people and spirit moved away quickly.

Once they were inside the barrier, the boys looked to the girl who continued to stand just outside of it. They didn't realise of course, but Masaki did. And she felt a deep sorrow at how a girl had died so young. Also at how close her sons' had come to meeting a soul reaper that would send them on to the soul society.

The blonde boy reached out to the girl, and managed to grab her arm, pulling her within the barrier, so that she could continue to play with him and his brother.

Their mother watched on in amazement, as the girl was a spirit and only a spirit should be able to touch another spirit. "Come on boys, let's head inside."  
"Okay, come on Naru." Ichigo looked at the girl as well when talking to his brother so that she knew that she was included as well. Both boys had learnt that adults could not see the other people who were floating around, so it was best to keep quiet about being able to see them.  
"Thank you Ichi." Naruto whispered as he latched onto his brother's arm.

The two boys had quickly set about playing with the little girl, while the adults had come back to talk in the back room. "That is definitely going to put the old man on their case."  
"Is there still a way that we can pass the plan?" All three men had looked to the mother with a certain look on their face that spoke volumes to her about how that was never going to work now.  
"We could certainly try but you know how the old man is now, he would exhaust all possibilities except the most obvious one first, because he is more likely to gain information about someone that way." Isshin stated. He looked in the direction of where his sons would be playing at the moment. "We are going to keep them safe though, Masaki."  
"How though if the soul society will be on the lookout for them?"  
"We'll find a way."

* * *

The blonde sat on the river edge with his feet in the water. He started when he heard a slight noise behind him. "Kura! You scared me!"  
The fox chuckled. "Not how I used to… So what brings you here, Naruto?"  
Naruto looked over the peaceful area while thinking about what he was doing there. "Can Ichi come here to?"  
"If you want, I believe that you can pull him in here." Kurama rested his head on his front paws. "One must be holding onto the other, and your eyes must be connected before you can pull him in here though. At least at first."  
"Okay Kura, I'll try it now." Naruto closed his eyes while focusing on his brother. When he opened them again, he was snuggled into his brother's side and it was really dark in their room. "Ichi wake up."  
At hearing his brother's voice and the pokes from the blonde twin, Ichigo immediately scanned his brother's face to make sure that he was alright. Naruto a put a hand on his brother's shoulder, while Ichigo had stared into his brother's eyes in confusion.  
"Now." Naruto murmured, pulling Ichigo with him to Kurama.

* * *

"Where are we?" Ichigo asked as he looked around his new surroundings. A large forest that seemed to go on forever. A fairly large clearing that he was standing in, and a river that seemed to run through where he could see his brother sitting down at. "Naru! Be careful."  
The blonde laughed as he stood up and ran back to his brother. "It worked Ichi!" He yelled as he tackled him on the ground. "You can meet Kura now."  
"The fox?"  
Naruto nodded vigorously in response, moving off his brother so that they could sit up. "Yep! Now we just have to wait a bit. He said he was going to be here soon."  
After two minutes, Ichigo stood up and started running around his brother. "Come on Naruto, let's go find him."  
The younger twin smiled evilly. "Let's play a prank on him!"  
"That isn't going to work Naruto." A voice said from behind the two, causing both to jump. "That was interesting."  
Ichigo had managed to move in front of Naruto when they had jumped, and now stood facing what he assumed was the fox that Naruto told him about. He hadn't relaxed though until his brother had told him that it was alright. "Nice to met you. I'm Ichigo."  
"And I'm Kurama." The fox smiled at the boy, "I have to thank you for taking care of Naruto out there."  
"Why wouldn't I? He's my brother." Ichigo stated, staring the fox in the eyes. "Are you helping keep the nightmares away?"

"If Naruto comes here while he is sleeping then I can." Kurama smiled. "But the good thing now, is that I can talk to you both."  
"How?"  
"You and Naruto are very close, and because of that I am able to open a mental connection. Should I need to talk to you without us coming here, then it will be possible." The fox explained while slowly lowering himself to the ground to lay on his stomach, resting his head on his paws. "Also, it will become easier for you to come here as well from now on."  
Ichigo tilted his head to the side with a confused look on his face.  
"The mental connection will help." was all Kurama muttered, all nine tails now splayed behind him. "Now why don't the two of you play for a little bit. For the moment, I would like to have a rest."  
"Okay Kura." Naruto started tugging his twin to the river. "Come on Ichi, the river is the best. You can also see little fishies in there."

* * *

It was the next morning, and Masaki was worried about her two boys who were usually up by now. She looked at the clock again, reading 10:20 before deciding that she should go see what was going on.

* * *

"You two need to go back now." Kurama stated as he moved next to the two boys who had ended back up by the river. "Your mother is worried that the two of you have not woken yet."  
"Okay. So how does Ichi go back?" Naruto asked while holding onto his brothers hand.  
"The same way that you do." Kurama moved closer to the two boys. "But you are going to need to wait for Ichigo to leave first."  
"Alright Ichi, close your eyes, and you go back." Naruto said, watch as his brother attempted that.  
After a minute, he opened his eyes and looked back at his brother. "Why didn't it work?"  
"Alright, Naruto, you go back first and I'll keep Ichigo safe. When you get back place a hand on Ichigo."  
Naruto closed his eyes, doing as Kurama wished. When he opened them, he saw his mother just walking into their room. Instead of running over to her he just looked her in the eye before placing his hand back on his brother. "Okay Kura, now what?"  
' _I want you to imagine Ichigo moving from your body back into his own. While Ichigo is going to once again try to go back to his own body.'  
_ "Are you okay in there Ichi?"  
" _For now Naru."_  
"Here we go." Naruto closed his eyes again, seeing his brother leaving his body, and going back into his own.

In the blonde's inner world, Ichigo was doing the same as before. Imagining himself going back into his own body. This time, Kurama watched as he faded in front of him.

Meanwhile Masaki had watched - shocked- as her youngest twin had looked at her with one brown eye and one blue eye, before turning to her eldest, and placing a hand on his arm. Moments later, there was a slight glow surrounding the two. She ran forward when she saw Ichigo start waking up.  
"Are you alright Ichi?"  
"I'm fine." The orange haired boy smiled at his mother, showing her his one brown eye and one cerulean blue eye. "But I got to meet Kura! He's a really nice fox who is helping Naru."  
"Really? How many tails did he have?" Masaki asked, once again starting to think about the legend that she had been told before.  
Not wondering about the weird question, Ichigo replied. "He had nine when I saw him lie down."

'So he even has the Kyuubi.' Masaki thought, now holding both of her sons to her. She felt a little hand on her stomach and looked at her youngest son, who just like his brother now had one brown eye and one cerulean blue eye. "Naru?"  
"Something in there. It feels nice." Naruto muttered to his mother. "Are we getting babies?"  
Masaki laughed, but shook her head. "I don't think we are just yet Naru. Because I have you and Ichi."

* * *

Naruto started at his brother for a long while after their mother left. "Your eye's changed."  
"Yours too." Ichigo replied to his brother. Staring at his one brown eye and one blue eye. "Is it your eye?"  
"Think so." Naruto smiled at this though. "Now we'll always be together."  
'Be careful though boys, not to crash into anything.'

"Why Kura?" Ichi asked, looking at his brother.  
'Since now you might be able to see what the other can.'  
"I can see what's going on one way while looking the other way?" Naruto asked as he looked back at his brother.  
'I believe so.' Kurama had curled back up inside Naruto's mind. 'Now I wish to go back to sleep.'  
"Okay." Naruto said to the fox. "Ichi let's ask Mum to go to the park."

Ichigo nodded at that.

Both boys ran down the stairs, side by side. "Hey Ichi," The blonde shut his left brown eye. The orange haired boy stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked back up at his brother. "I can see you down there and myself up here."

'You both will be able to see through your other eye without having to close the eye that has moved.'  
"Meaning what?" Ichigo asked the fox.  
'Meaning that you will be able to filter the images between what you can see from your brother and what you can see in front of you. Also, you could both wear an eye patch in the meantime.'  
"Eye patch!" Naruto called out, moving down the stairs quickly. "We can be Pirates!"

On the last step the little blonde managed to trip, falling into his brother.

'Sorry. I should also have said to be careful not to trip as well.' Kurama murmured before staying silent no matter how much the boys tried to talk to him. Masaki though had also come to see Ichigo underneath Naruto. As quickly as she had seen them, she had moved to help Naruto up. As she looked between the two boy, and their pleading eyes, she knew she was not going to be saying no to their next request.

* * *

Sorry about such a late update. I do believe that life and no motivation go in the way :)

Anyway, chapters will be posted when completed, so there may also be long or longer waiting in the future or even tomorrow, but no promises can be made ⊥ please don't hate me ⊥

Let me know what you think...


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